1070 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III. 



counties of Scotland, the hinds or married ploughmen are commonly allowed to keep a pig each, which 

 they feed in this manner, and from which their families derive much benefit at very little expense. Near 

 woods, acorns, mast, and other seeds, as well as some roots and vermin, afford excellent nourishment. 

 On many corn farms, the chief, and not unfrequently the only, dependence of swine is on the straw-yards. 

 The sweepings of the barn floor, corn left upon the straw, and oats found among the dung of horses, with 

 a share of the turnips given to the cattle in winter, and of the clover in summer, affbrd ample subsistence 

 to swine, in the proportion, perhaps, of one to every five or six acres under corn, clover, and turnips. The 

 kitchen and dairy give some assistance to pigs newly weaned, and also to such as are soon to be slaughtered. 

 A great many are killed when about a year old, that have never been fed at any expense that can be 

 estimated. A few pigs, if of a good breed, will always be moderately fat at that age with the run of the 

 straw- yard, and their flesh is of an excellent quality. 



7314. To prevent swine frcnn digging in the soil, the best method is to cut the two strong tendons of their 

 snouts with a sharp knife, about an inch and a half from the nose. This may be done with little pain, 

 and no prejudice, to the animal when about two or three months old. The common practice of restrain- 

 ing them by rings fixed in the snout is painful and troublesome : they must be replaced as often as they 

 give way, and that happens so frequently that rings afford but little security against this nuisance. 



Sect. III. Fattening of Swine- 



7315. The following system of rearing mid fattening swine on an arable farm is recom- 

 mended by a writer in the Farmers Magazine. 



7316. Upon a tillage farm consisting of three hundred acres, whereof two hundred are kept under the 

 plough, he is of opinion that a considerable sum may be annually gained from keeping swine, were the 

 management arranged in a systematic manner. One main advantage of such a branch of rural economy 

 arises from little or no capital being required to carry it on, while the trouble and outlay attending it 

 scarcely deserve notice. With the addition of one acre of broad clover, and one acre of tares, for the 

 summer and autumn months, and the like extent of ground for turnips and yams during the winter and 

 spring months, this stock of swine may be amply supported. 



7317. Were two breeding sows kept on a farm of the size mentioned, and their produce reared by the 

 farmer, it may be calculated that forty swine, weighing seven or eight stone each, would be annually fed 

 off, in the month of January and February each year, the time when pork is most in demand. That 

 such a number of swine can be supported and fed upon the offals of a three-hundred-acre farm, and the 

 other auxiliary articles specified, may be pronounced a certain fact. 



7318. The breeds he recommends are the hardy smaller sized varieties ; because he has found that such 

 breeds will thrive and grow fat where larger and finer breeds would s-tarve. 



7319. The mode of management is, that a boar and two good sows of a proper age should constantly be 

 kept, and that one young sow shall annually be reared, in order to supply the others when they pass 

 maturity. He would cast off the oldest sows, i. e. feed them when they arrive at three years of age, 

 which, of course, would cause four sows to be in hand at one time. These annually would produce more 

 than the forty pigs which are to be held on ; but the remainder might be sold as they are weaned, there 

 being a regular and steady demand in most parts of the country for young pigs. He has for a number of 

 years kept a stock of swine in the way recommended. They go at large in the court or yard belonging to 

 the farm, and receive a feeding of offal grain in the morning, and of yams or turnips in the evening; and 

 the meat fed in this way has constantly drawn the highest price. They get also the dish-washings of the 

 house, any milk or whey that remains unconsumed, and have the dunghill to roam upon, where perhaps 

 more food is to be gathered, especially if the horses are fed upon unbroken grain, than is commonly 

 imagined. It will readily be concluded that, under this mode of management, the latter end of summer 

 and the harvest months is the critical period for carrying on a stock of swine. During these months 

 little threshing goes forward, and horses seldom receive any corn for aliment; hence all that can be con- 

 sistently attempted is to keep the animals in a growing state, and prepare them for fattening cleverly, 

 when food of a more nutritious quality can be procured. Clover and tares will do this effectually, the 

 last particularly so when in a podded state. Turnips can also be got by the end of September ; and it 

 must be recollected, that through the summer months a considerable quantity of milk and whey can be 

 given, upon which swine will be found to thrive heartily. He does not know a more beneficial stock upon 

 a farm than swine, so long as the quantity kept is in proportion to the extent of offals about the premises. 

 The other articles recommended are merely meant to render the consumption of offals more beneficial, to 

 carry on the stock at periods when such offals are scarce. The charge of attendance is very small ; indeed, 

 the benefit gained by the dunghill will more than compensate the expenses incurred. To make as much 

 profit from cattle or sheep requires a great advance of money ; but in the article of swine hardly any is 

 necessary, while the most part of the articles consumed cannot, in any other way, be converted to such 

 beneficial purposes. 



7320. In fattening for bacon and flitches, the larger breeds are chosen; and in breweries, distilleries, 

 cileries, and dairies, fed on grains, oil-cake, and milk ; but where arable farmers keep swine of this de- 

 scription, as is the practice in some of the western counties, the method is to rear chiefly on raw potatoes 

 and Swedish turnips, and to fatten on these roots, boiled or prepared by steam, with a mixture of oat, 

 barley, or bean and pea meal. Their troughs should be often replenished with a small quantity of food 

 at a time, and kept always clean ; and their food changed occasionally, and seasoned with salt. If proper 

 care be taken, says a late writer, a feeding pig should not consume more than six Winchester bushels of 

 oats made into meal. It ought to be shelled before it is ground, the same as for family use, but need not 

 be sifted. {Henderson's Treatise on Swine, p. 26.) . 



7321. In fatting sucking pigs, all that is requisite is to keep the mother well lodged and nourished. 

 Weaned pigs when to be fatted are kept constantly on whey, or skim-milk or buttermilk, with frequently 

 an addition of peas or beans, or barley-meal. Such good keeping not only makes them increase rapidly 

 in size, but renders them fit for the butcher at an early age. Swine are sold to the butcher at different 

 ages, and under different names ; as pigs when a few weeks old ; as porkers at the age of five or six 

 months ; and as full grown hogs at from eighteen months to two years old. The young pigs are commonly 

 roasted whole; the porkers are used as fresh or pickled pork ; and the full grown hogs are for the most 

 part converted into ham and bacon. The demand for porkers, which for London in particular is very 

 great, and which continues ahnost throughout the year, is chiefly supplied from the dairies within reach of 

 that metropolis. 



Sect. IV. Curing of Fork and Bacon. 



7322. The curing or pickling of pork is carried on to a considerable extent at many of 

 our sea-ports. 



7323. The carcass is cut in pieces, and packed in cases or kits made for the purpose, containing from 

 one to two hundred weight. Salt is dissolved in water till the mixture be strong enough to swim an egg; 

 it is then boiled, and, when cold, poured upon the pork ; when the end of the cask is fixed in, the article 

 is ready for being sent to market Henderson, a late writer, has given particular directions for the curing 

 of bacon, founded upon a long course of experience, which, therefore, deserves to be more generally 

 known. 



